2012 – Summer

Dear Family and Friends

It has been a fun four months full of change, growth and travel!

 One of the most exciting times was traveling to North Carolina in July for 6 days of orientation with Samaritan’s Purse, where we met 15 other families preparing to go to hospitals in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.  What a marvelous group of people with whom to share times filled with worship and praise to our God! (We were also given necessary information on taxes, immunizations and travel risk.)  Most touching were stories by past candidates/missionaries on their experiences. Such experiences included 365 consecutive days of “on call” with only a couple of weekends off, intensive spiritual warfare, stories of people unexpectedly surviving illnesses, and of others unexpectedly dying from such.  All of this left us both excited and concerned for our coming experience!  We pray for strength and discipline in our faith; we ask the Lord always to keep our eyes focused on Jesus as we continue to take exciting steps toward ministry in Togo!

 As for our life in Tacoma: at the end of July Fred’s fellowship had a small graduation ceremony attended by the faculty and the fellows.  It had been a good year of OB/procedure training; however, at the ceremony, Fred got shot by multiple nerf guns as he accepted his certificate. (It was payback for an earlier incident in which Fred shot his then pregnant wife with a nerf gun!)  Meanwhile, Lydia is completing   her contract, back at work, being the “bread winner” for the remaining weeks in Tacoma, while Fred is a stay-at-home dad, cooking, cleaning, and changing diapers. (How grateful Lydia is for this miracle!)

Can you believe that young Noah is now 16 pounds and 20 weeks old?. It is such a joy to watch him grow and develop!  He laughs a lot –and he talks a lot.  (Well, actually it is a lot of babble that Fred says sounds just like Noah’s mother).  He is such a blessing in our lives!

We are extremely busy as we prepare not only for our move to Madison, Indiana for three months, but also for our medical board exams in November and our move to Switzerland in January for language study.  In addition to these, we are working on our travel visas, church presentations, and critical study plans (for the board exams).  Although, it is a bit overwhelming, we truly feel God’s hand at work bringing together the multitude of details of our move.  Thank you, God! (Free babysitting is being offered by grandparents in Indiana while we’re studying; as you can guess, we didn’t have to ask twice for that blessing.)

Your prayer support is so much needed and appreciated!  Below is listed the concerns and decisions for which we would like you to join us in prayer:

• Move – that the details will continue to come together allowing us to make a successful transition to Indiana (in early October) and then to Switzerland and then to Africa –this involves knowing what to sell, to give away, and to pack. This process is somewhat challenging and emotional, as we seek to make a successful transition to Indiana and then to our further destinations for language learning and ministry.
• Board Exam – that we will have the time to study in October and that the exams will go well in November.
• Family / Noah –  that we will be able to manage work, family, and life, while keeping God first in our lives

Other Interesting facts

Plans

 

 

 

 

• Switzerland – French language study Jan – July ‘13
• Togo Mission Hospital – August ’13 – July ‘15

 

Financial Support

• 34% of support
• Donations from the US –> go to www.samaritanspurse.org (click on “way to give”, then click on “support a physician”, then type in “Pfenniger” ) or Send to Samaritan’s Purse; attention: post-residency program (account #003916); P.O Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607
• Donations from Canada –> in progress

Thank you so much for your encouragement and support!

Fred, Lydia and Noah Pfenniger

www.fredandlydia.com